槛 meaning and stroke order
Threshold, door frame
How to write 槛, stroke by stroke
14 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 槛
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- banister
- balustrade
- cage for animal or prisoner
- to transport caged prisoner on a cart
- door sill
- threshold
How 槛 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Wood.
木 gives the meaning and 监 hints at the sound.
Radical: 木 (tree), shared by 388 characters on this site.
How to remember 槛
A threshold was traditionally a beam of wood 木 (mù) laid across the bottom of a doorway, and 监 (jiān) gives the sound. Picture a guard who watches 监 over a wooden sill 木 that everyone must step over.
In everyday Chinese 槛 (kǎn) almost always appears in 门槛 (ménkǎn), which means a doorsill and also, figuratively, a threshold or entry requirement. Example: 这个工作的门槛很高。(Zhège gōngzuò de ménkǎn hěn gāo.) The entry requirements for this job are high.
Common mistake: Learners often write 监 alone or confuse 槛 with 滥 (làn, excessive), which has the water radical instead of wood. Also remember the tone is third tone kǎn in 门槛, not jiān like the phonetic part.
Common words with 槛
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 门槛 | ménkǎn | doorstep; sill | HSK 7-9 |
槛 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 槛
How many strokes are in 槛?
槛 is written with 14 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 槛 mean?
槛 (kǎn) means threshold, door frame. A common word with it is 门槛 (ménkǎn), meaning "doorstep; sill".
How do you pronounce 槛?
槛 is pronounced kǎn, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 槛?
The radical of 槛 is 木, which carries the idea of "tree". Dictionaries list 槛 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 槛?
The traditional form of 槛 is 檻. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 槛 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 槛 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 槛 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
When is 槛 pronounced jiàn instead of kǎn?
It is read jiàn in more literary senses such as a balustrade, a railing, or a cage for animals or prisoners. In modern speech you will mostly meet the kǎn reading in 门槛.
Can 门槛 be used for non-physical thresholds?
Yes. 门槛 is very common for abstract barriers like admission standards or minimum requirements, for example 入学门槛 (rùxué ménkǎn), the admission bar for a school.